I have purchased a number of the cornerstone modular building kits. I am looking for a website or personal experience that has buildings built using these kits. Can anyone help me?
Go the Walthers web site and look under Technical Resources for an instruction sheet. The sheet should be included in the kit.
I don’t know what specifics you are looking for but I can give you my experience with building a few of these kits. In general, they go together well. The parts are cast well, fit together well and there are few tweaks that have to be made. Using a good liquid plastic welding cement is a must and application with a micro brush is helpful. The instruction sheets are pictorial and require you to “follow the numbers” without any explanation. However, if you study the sequence things go together quite well. Would I recommend these kits? Yes, when assembled they are nice additions to your layout.
Joe
A couple of years ago at Milwaukee’s Trainfest, Walthers had tables and chairs with tubs of modular parts and tubes of plastic cement, and anybody could just sit down and try out the system: build some walls, install some windows and doors, see how the roof fits, etc. I assume you were permitted to make and take, but interestingly someone started a sort of “communal” structure that others added on to as the day went on. It became pretty elaborate!.
My point (which Walthers seems to understand) is that there is a certain reluctance to just jump right in with the cement for fear of ruining a piece, and the Walthers display enabled the interested modeler to get over that fear factor. They didn’t do it this year maybe because they had so much else to display this year and quite possibly there were concerns about really young kids working with the plastic cements.
Since I assume nobody is offering you a tub of free modular parts to play with, what I suggest is experiment by taping sections together until you get the hang of it. A couple of years ago I purchased a spool of 1/4" masking tape which I find has dozens of model railroad uses, and one of them is to try out plastic building parts. I can be lavish with the tape because it is cheap and enough of the structure actually shows that you still get the general idea.
Dave Nelson
More specifically, they have detailed, illustrated instructions on building various buildings (e.g., a single story warehouse) which lists parts required and building techniques. The building kits (see 933-3755) also have instruction pages your can download.
Quick links:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/modular_transfers
http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/modulars
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3755
Keep us informed on progress and experiences.
Alan
I second everything Joe mentioned about Corner Stone kits but would like to add a few things. If your not an experienced kit builder I would check out Micro-Mark’s website. They are known as the small tool people for good reason. Just about any tool that is needed for model building can be found there. I would suggest their corner clamps they are excellent when adjoining two walls together. They also have a magnetic tray that is used to hold pieces parts together while gluing. After a while you will figure out how to improvise or make some special tool , clamps etc. to help you in your model building.
There are many different glues on the market and not all work the same way but have a common goal of bonding two pieces of styrene together. The two I like to use are Plastruct glue and Tenax 7R both work very well but for different applications.
One thing most structure builder will agree on and do to their models is something called blocking. It’s beefing up or reinforcing the inside corners of the buildings with either pieces of wood or styrene block, angels etc. As models typically don’t have an inner structure to give them strength and rigidity like a real building blocking is used to strengthen the completed structure. different modelrs have different ways of doing this. Some do it as the kit is being built some after. Some like using wood some like using styrene. It does make a big difference if it’s done correctly and the extra work will show after the model has been on your layout for a while as it will still look the way it did when first built.
Lastly your going to want to learn about weathering. Weathering is the one common factor that just about everything in model railroading share. Locomotive, rolling stock, structures, tracks, even landscaping. If your not familiar with the term weathering just be observant the next time you walk outside and look at your surroundings. Nothing looks brand new, fresh and clean. Even a building or a home that is newly painted sta
I appreciate the good advice and counsel. I guess my post was too general.I have purchased a number of thes modular kits wih the idea of making unique structures, eg custom factories, old time buildings etc. I am hoping to see some custom, one of a kind structures. Any direction on his would be great. While the buildings I saw on the Whalter page are nice, I guess I would want to be creative also, so I am seeking to steal other people’s ideas :).
Thanks for the advice and commentary. I appreciate it greatly!
You have gotten some excellent advise here. I have a few buildings sitting on the layout made with the modular series. They do go together very well.
One word of advise. If you are planning on lighting the buildings, be sure to paint the inside of the structure with black paint. Otherwise you will get that plastic glow in the dark…
If you are looking for photos of the results, I’m sure several people would be glad to post their buildings.
Pre-planning is the best idea. Download the Walthers planning templates
for HO: http://www.walthers.com/page/Modulars_Template.pdf
for N: http://www.walthers.com/page/N_Modulars_Template.pdf
Make multiple copies, cut out the wall sections of the building you think you want to make, and paste on to cardboard (I use cereal boxes) with a glue stick. The result will be a 3-D model you can check in place on your layout and develop a parts list.
I like the Walthers modulars, but am a bit frustrated with the way they package the product. On the last one I made, when I was ready to go, I discovered I needed “walls columns and caps” set to put it together. (I was used to the DPM modulars which includs the pilasters (columns)). Check to be sure you have all the parts. The other thing is if you are short one or 2 wall sections, you have to buy another package for $10 that includes a bunch of other parts you may not need until the next building.
If you have not done one before, I recommend yo get one of the starter kits like the 3-in-1 Building Set #1; it includes all the parts you will need for a complete building.
In HO scale: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3750 There is a similar N scale kit.
Yeah this is my only real beef, that and a surplus of doors. I have so many spare doors. The columns packages are pretty tough to come by right now. No one seems to have them in stock locally or internetly and I’ve had six on backorder at walthers since Halloween.
This is a small building that butts against the edge of the layout. This was the most finished picture I have. They’re pretty easy to work with but inside corner joints are tricky and ugly. I fit it remarkably sturdy, despite not having a back wall. Although it will require bracing to keep the roof from falling in without that wall to pull everything together.
I agree, the Cornerstone modulars are much stiffer than the DPM modulars. I do not have to brace them like with the DPMs; although a large building probably would need a bit of bracing.
Another thing is getting outside of the footprint of the cornerstone base. They are kind of limited to a rectangle or L shape, DPM works better for odd shapes like following the curve of a track.
Another downside, is that you definitely have to paint the structure unless you like the tanned flesh look (see picture above from NittanyLion); does not come in a normal brick color.
I have built quite a few of these. Some were monsters.
What I do is use Safe weld. I used a glass top on the table. I cannot tell you how important for that thick glass top to be F L A T. I mean flawless flat.
I would plan the structure, get the required kits. Forget the teeny tiny blister packs with 4 blank walls. Go buy the Sterling Kit or Tannery when they are on sale… 90 to 110 dollars. Then take the entire box and treat it as one gigantic box of parts and goodies for your new building.
5 of these boxes yielded about… 12 to 14 buildings in total for my factory on the layout before it was sold off and dismantled.
The reason for the flat glass is that I would put a few drops of safeweld under the foundation peice that forms the “Floor” of the entire building. After careful planning, cutting and fitting, the entire frame is ready to accept all other peices of the building.
Once that is the case. Start in one corner and make it good. 90 degree angle with a square tool for example. Then march down one wall to the next corner adding pilasters and walls as you go. When you have completed all 4 corners of your first story let everything rest and dry a few days.
Then you are ready to accept a second story etc.
Everything I did was done assembly line. I would line up… 300 window frames with thier 300 glass peices all together on the outside table and hit em all with spray paint. One can can color that many frames if the wind is not blowing.
Then it is a matter of using model master clear glass glue that dries clear … a dallop on your frames, place the glass. Repeat until all are assembled.
Then do the same to the entire window unit onto the rear of the walls after filing the corners.
You will suffer bleeding of fingers so wear light gloves. And ensure you are ventilating your workspace.
Plan your building over 6 weeks. One week, frame and foundation walls
The railcar door as it is is fairly low. I’d planned on running tank cars into the building and just putting a piece of good old code 83 Atlas down for the spur. But the Intermountain corn syrup tank car I have is like .03 inches too tall to fit in. I have several ideas about what I can do, namely shorter rail or relaying the code 83 rail on lower profile ties.
I’d like to point out that yeah you do need an awful lot of pieces to herd up enough of what you need to get. Especially if you need a lot of blank walls. I only needed about 20, which wasn’t that hard to come by in the overall acquistion I needed to make for everything else. Rollup doors are a nuisance. If you need more than one railcar door, that’s more than one blister pack. Same for modern loading dock doors. You get two in a pack, but four wall sections they can used for (two dock doors, two vehicle doors).
However, if you’re crafty, Walther’s seems to have them on sale for either $2,98 or $3.98 a blister pack for most of the year. I’ve got around 20 blisters laying around here and I know I bought every single one of them on sale. The column scarcity seems to grind me more than lack of blank walls. oh and there’s a little bitty joiner piece that goes between the longer wall cap segments (and its sister for foundations) that are equally short supply in their respective blisters that require buying a lot to get a little.
I did a back ground type structure out of a 3 in 1 kit and some issues I found are 1. got to paint ,the tan plastic is thin ,so if you like the tan paint inside if your going to light…2…need some sort of seam sealer or caulk for those joints you thought were tite (I assembled and glued from the back and found a few joints or seams between floors opened )3. be prepared to alter or bash parts un less you want to buy a blister pack for a pc a trim…all in all came out nice for a newbe ,oh I would never pay retail and stock up on some sheet styrene for loading docks,roofs ,ect, or it could get real expensive… its the ticket for unusual background buildings…Jerry